Pharmacy Blog

Menopausal women listen up. If you are experiencing night sweats and hot flashes, you might be helped by a hormone called progesterone, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia found that women in the study who took progesterone saw a reduction in night sweats and hot flashes from seven times a day to four times a day after 12 weeks of taking progesterone.

“There are certainly some people for whom estrogen is not an appropriate therapy and other people who wish to avoid it for other reasons. And progesterone offers a choice,” said Christine Hitchcock, lead author and researcher of the study. 68 women were part of the study, who took three 100-mg progesterone capsules each night for 12 weeks.

While its not clear exactly how progesterone works, one theory is that it expands the temperature at which a women’s post-menopausal body feels comfortable.

Based upon the study findings, progesterone capsules may be a viable alternative therapy to help early menopausal women reduce the frequency and severity of their night sweats and hot flashes, who don’t want to be on an estrogen-based menopausal symptoms treatment.

Still, the use of progesterone for menopausal symptoms isn’t without its skeptics. Dr. John Studd, a professor of gynecology at Imperial College London, is a proponent of estrogen-based hormone replacement therapy, but is unconvinced that progesterone alone can relieve menopausal symptoms. Studd, who studied menopausal symptoms and progesterone outside of the University of British Columbia study, pointed out the tranquilizer effect of progesterone. He noted this was why the women in the study were given progesterone capsules in the evening, and could explain why they slept through their night sweats and hot flashes.

The study and its findings are published online in the journal Menopause.

Pharmacy Headquarters Blog (PharmacyHeadquarters.com) Editorial Staff  Copyright 2012 – All rights reserved